The present invention relates to a device for relieving stress on the arm of a user of a sports racquet, wherein the device is mountable on the racquet and comprises an elongated flexible rubber-like strap having dampening characteristics.
Sports racquets of the type to which the subject invention is applied, that is, those racquets used for playing tennis, racquetball, squash, badminton, and the like, have a particular construction when made of materials other than wood that tend to transfer vibrational stresses created upon an impact of a ball on the racquet strings to the arm of the user. Constant use of such a racquet quite frequently results in what is commonly known as "tennis elbow", and usually results from vibrations that occur upon frequent impact of a ball against the racquet strings. Tennis elbow can essentially incapacitate a user in play since considerable discomfort will occur during the use of the racquet in the play of a game.
Some efforts have been made to diminish the vibration and shock that results from impact of a ball on the strings of a racquet, particularly when a non-wooden racquet is utilized, and in some of these prior known devices, attempts have been made to reduce shock and vibration resulting from impact of a ball on the racquet strings by connecting certain of the strings of the racquet through a plug type of device. Such devices are illustrated, for example, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,761,007 and 4,909,509 to BOSCHIAN, and the U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,143 to HILLOCK. Although the devices as described in the aforementioned U.S. patents are intended to provide some form of a dampening effect, the devices have not been found to be very effective in dampening the vibrations resulting from impact of a ball on the strings of a racquet, and as a result have not been readily accepted for use.
Some efforts have also been made to provide strip-like dampening devices for use in stringed racquets for reducing shock and vibration upon use of the racquet in play, and examples of these types of devices are illustrated in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,732,383 and 4,911,445 to FERRARI et al, and ADAM U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,083. As will be noted, the devices as illustrated in these latter patents are mounted on the longitudinally extending strings of a racquet by some form of end connections, but the end connections do not provide for sufficient securement of the device to the racquet strings to adequately dampen vibration and shock upon use of the sports racquet, and as a result such constructions have not found sufficient favor in the trade.
As will be set forth hereinafter, the subject invention provides an improvement over the prior known devices as illustrated in the aforesaid patents, and effectively dampens vibration and shock that occur upon the impact of a ball against the strings of a racquet in the use thereof and is further prevented from shifting on the strings during use of the racquet.